Rebuilding the relationship between the Police and the Communities that they serve one voice at a time.

Tampa, Fl. two Deputies help feed family in need

September 25, 2015 Tampa, Fl. Two Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Deputies saw a woman (panhandling) asking for money so that she could buy food for her family.

She was holding up a sign that read “Please help need to feed family.” One of the Deputies approached the woman and told her that she could be arrested for panhandling and the woman apologized stating that she didn’t kow and it was the first time she had ever done it.

Late during the day the very same Deputy was taking a break in a local convenience store’s restroom when she overheard a woman talking on a phone saying that she had not earned enough money to buy food for the family. She recognized the voice as the woman that she had encountered earlier.

Deputy Jessica Dillon spoke with her partner Deputy Chris Rose to talk with the woman further. They did talk with Melinda Vaughan and learned of her problems.

She has a child that she drops off with her mother or at school. Vaughan is trying to find work to help support her family but is having difficulty because she doesn’t have proper identification.

The Deputies decided to help her out. They offered to take her to Walmart where she could buy some groceries and she did. The Deputies paid for the groceries themselves costing them about $80.00.

They also gave Vaughan assistance in the form of directing her on how to get proper identification so that she can have better prospects in gaining employment in the future.

Both Deputies were interviewed by local news sources like WTSP but they didn’t think that they would get any media attention for their act of kindness stating. “In our agency there’s a lot of men and women out serving our community that do the same thing.”